Lisa Hill (political scientist)

Lisa Hill
Professor Lisa Hill, University of Adelaide
Nationality	Australian
Institution	University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Field	Political science Political philosophy
Alma mater	University of Tasmania; University College, Oxford University
Contributions	Compulsory voting
Awards	Rhodes Scholarship (1985-88)

Lisa Hill is Professor of Politics at the University of Adelaide, Australia. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2011.^[1] She has previously held positions at the University of Sydney and the Australian National University. She was elected a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia in 2011.^[2]

Hill’s research interests include electoral law, Australian politics, history of political thought, social, political and economic thought of the Scottish Enlightenment, the pre-history of liberalism, and classical Stoicism.^[3] She is particularly known for her work in support of compulsory voting^[4]

Political work

Hill is an advocate for compulsory voting, pointing out that in Australia (where voting is compulsory) turnout has remained steady at about 95 per cent, whilst in voluntary voting systems around the world turnout has been on the decline.^[5] She has estimated that were Australia to introduce voluntary voting, turnout would decline to 60 per cent.^[5] She holds that the decline in turnout is most pronounced among younger, poorer and more marginalised voters, a factor that explains why there is more wealth inequality within voluntary systems: politicians have less incentive to cater to the needs of more marginalised voters, who are less likely to vote in voluntary systems.^[5]

Her expertise in the area has also been recognised by the Australian^[6] and British^[7] Electoral Commissions, as well as in the popular media, with her ideas being explored in such publications as Slate^[8] and the International Business Times.^[9]

She recently co-authored Compulsory Voting: For and Against (Cambridge University Press) with political philosopher Jason Brennan, who took the opposing side of the debate.^[10] The book has been called "the best and most thorough recent contribution to the literature on this subject" by Professor Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law.^[11]

Hill’s current work focuses on challenging proponents of epistemic democracy, such as Brennan, who advocate for a political system in which an educated elite is given more political power.^[12] Such proponents argue that such recent, arguably undesirable, election outcomes such as the election of Donald Trump and Brexit would have been prevented under an epistocracy; Hill suggests that this is empirically incorrect, and argues that we should instead be focused on "how to deepen and expand" the franchise in order to improve our democracies.^[13]

Notable publications

Books

• Buchan, B & Hill, L 2014, The Intellectual History of Political Corruption, Palgrave Macmillan, London/New York. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 167 libraries.^[14]
• Brennan, J & Hill, L 2014, Compulsory Voting: For and Against, Cambridge University Press, New York and Cambridge. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 194 libraries.^[14]
• Hall, I & Hill L (eds.) 2009, British International Thinkers from Hobbes to Namier, Palgrave-MacMillan. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 131 libraries.^[14]
• Chappell, L, Chesterman, J & Hill, L 2009, The Politics of Human Rights in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 237 libraries.^[14]
• Hill, L 2006, The Passionate Society: The Social, Political and Moral Thought of Adam Ferguson, Springer, Berlin and New York. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 174 libraries.^[14]
• Chappell, L & Hill, L (eds.) 2006, The Politics of Women’s Interests: New Comparative and International Perspectives, Routledge, London. According to WorldCat, the book is held in 188 libraries.^[14]

Encyclopedia Articles

• Hill, L 2009, ‘Civil Society Theory: Adam Smith’, in International Encyclopedia of Civil Society, eds. H. K. Anheier & S. Toepler, Springer, New York.
• Hill, L 2009, ‘Adam Ferguson’, in Encyclopedia of Political Theory, ed. M. Bevir, Sage, London.
• Hill, L 2007, ‘Compulsory Voting’, in The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, eds. B. Galligan & W. Roberts, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
• Hill, L 2007, ‘Citizen Initiated Referenda’, in The Oxford Companion to Australian Politics, eds. B. Galligan & W. Roberts, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.

References

External links

• Lisa Hill presenting at a Compulsory Voting seminar at the University of Adelaide